[Occupymendocino] the presentation to BOS about foreclosures and owed recording fees

[ELLEN ROSSER]

*      MERS OWES THE COUNTY RECORDING FEES*

**

*     From 2009 to 2012, there were 2,342 foreclosures in Mendocino County.
Most of those foreclosures were by the big banks which violated the law and
settled with the States Attorney Generals in December 2012 in the National
Mortgage Settlement:  Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, J.P. Morgan Chase
and Wells Fargo.   *

*      During that time those foreclosures caused  a loss of home values in
Mendocino County of $735,926,660 with a resultant loss of $4,489,153 in
property taxes.  Moreover, there was a cost of approximately $24,143,932 to
the local government for costs related to the foreclosures including costs
for maintenance of blighted properties, sheriff evictions, inspections,
public safety, trash removal, unpaid water and sewage charges, and other
costs.  In other words,  it cost the county approximately $19,229 for every
foreclosure.       *

*      Thus, as is relevant to our request for an audit of foreclosure
deeds, Mendocino County lost at very least over $100,000 in recording fees,
and probably much more since some mortgages changed owners a number of
times and the big banks used MERS (Mortgage Electronic registration System)
instead of recording change of ownership with the County Recorder as they
were legally bound to do.   It is estimated that 75% of the foreclosures
went through MERS:  that is, 1756 of the deeds in foreclosure cases were
not properly recorded.  MERS therefore owes the county those recording fees.
*

*      We are requesting, therefore, that $15,000 be put into the budget to
fund an audit of all deeds of foreclosed property from 2009 to the present
to find all evasions of recorder's fees though the use of MERS.  We expect
the county to recover those lost fees by suing MERS for illegally evading
the payment of the requisite recording fees.  Although the big banks
settled with the states Attorney Generals on some issues, cases involving
MERS are still viable.   Therefore we would like to see the county to
investigate and recover the money owed to it.  *
*
*
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